Yellowhammer: No-deal Brexit would undermine domestic oil industry, official documents reveals
12th September 2019 | Commercial Energy
A no-deal Brexit would likely result in the closure of two UK oil refineries, along with petrol shortages and higher electricity prices, the Government’s so-called Yellowhammer dossier has revealed. Published after MPs voted in favour of making the document public on Monday (9 September), the six-page dossier outlines what the Government believes will happen in a “plausible” but “worst-case” no-deal scenario.
Michael Gove, former Environment Secretary and incumbent Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, had said ahead of the vote that the publication of the document would be “inappropriate in principle and in practice,” and” would on its own terms purport to require the government to contravene the law, and is singularly unfair to the named individuals.”
However, MPs voted 311 to 302 in favour of its publication.
Yellowhammer
Alongside measures regarding immigration, citizenship and access to healthcare, the document lays bare the likely impacts of a no-deal Brexit on the water and energy sectors, as well as on sustainable fisheries. On energy, the document states that there will be no disruption to the UK’s electricity and gas interconnectors, meaning that national energy demands will continue to be met.
However, it touts “significant” increases in the cost of electricity, for both business and domestic consumer, as a result of “wider economic and political impacts.” These rising costs, it notes, will hit low-income areas and households the most, including those already affected by fuel poverty.
With regards to water, the dossier states that services offered by the water industry are likely to remain “largely unaffected” and states that the most likely point of failure will being the chemical supply chain. The chances of such a failure happening, it claims are “considered low” – but such an event, it adds, would likely affect hundreds of thousands of people.
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